Prep football: Northwood won’t free-lance

Pacific Coast League administrators have voted to deny Northwood

High the option of playing a free-lance varsity football schedule next

fall, Rick Curtis, Northwood’s athletic director and football coach, said

Monday.

Curtis said he could decide as soon as Friday whether to play a varsity

or junior varsity schedule next fall in the PCL.

“I’m disappointed about not being able to play free-lance, but these are

the rules and we’ll abide by them,” said Curtis, who invoked ire from

some PCL coaches last month by announcing plans to play as a free-lance

team.

The Irvine-based school opened this fall with 28 sophomore football

players and a complete freshmen team. The freshmen went 9-1, but half of

those games were against freshmen B teams, Curtis said.

If Northwood elects to play at the varsity level, it would eliminate the

bye week the other five PCL schools had during the 1999 league season.

- by Barry Faulkner